Borislav Mihailov was re-elected as President of the Bulgarian Football Union. He won the confidence of the majority of the delegates who voted at the Extraordinary Congress held at the National Palace of Culture, receiving 241 votes (the commission declared 480 of the ballots valid, with 241 votes being the minimum number for the first round).

His main rival, Dimitar Berbatov, received 230 votes. The other two candidates for the post received minimal and no support - Hristo Portochanov with 8 and Ivaylo Drazhev with 0.

153 clubs voted from Sofia Zone, 106 from Varna, 128 from Plovdiv and 93 from Veliko Tarnovo.

"Thank you for the trust. I will work with all my heart for the change in Bulgarian football," said Borislav Mihailov, who has been running the Bulgarian Football Union since 2005. Dimitar Berbatov hinted at a violation of the counting procedure, but was yelled at and booed by some of the delegates who support Mihailov.

"I am surprised by the result. I expected many more votes for me. There is a dispute whether Bobby wins or there should be a runoff. But they announced that Borislav Mihailov wins in the first round. Three of the delegates did not vote at all," Portochanov said.

Two of the six candidates for president of the Bulgarian Football Union withdrew at the end of the speeches before the start of the voting.

These were Hristo Hristov - president of FC Maritsa Plovdiv, and the manager Georgi Zahariev, nominated by FC Pirdop.

Delegates voted in eight sections of 60 people each. Prior to that, at the request of Dimitar Berbatov, a proposal was considered in each of the eight sections to have observers for each of the presidential candidates. This is not included in the rules of the Bulgarian Football Union and caused a lot of emotions and tension in the hall.

/OFFNews